SUNDAY, 2:09 PM: The seven-player trade has been agreed to in principle. Bang it HERE for more.

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SATURDAY, 9:45 PM: Sherman says the trade, as it now stands, will send Dickey, Thole and a non-elite prospect to the Blue Jays for d’Arnaud, Syndergaard, Buck and a non-elite prospect. Sherman guesses that the swap might not be finalized until Monday.

6:58 PM: Adam Rubin of ESPN New York heard from an “in-the-know” source that a resolution might not happen on Saturday night. It seems likely that talks will trail into Sunday.

3:04 PM: Mike Puma of the New York Postreports that as of this morning, seven players were involved in the deal, including four coming to the Mets and three going to the Blue Jays.

Puma hears that the Jays want a catcher back and speculates that Josh Thole could be involved. He has a rapport with knuckleballer R.A. Dickey, so that would make sense. If that happens, it’s possible the Mets could takeJohn Buck in the deal.

Andy McCullough of the Newark Star-Ledgerhears that Blue Jays prospect right-handers Noah Syndergaard and Aaron Sanchez have also been discussed. Those are two impressive prospects, so this deal could get a little crazy.

2:54 PM: Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports reports that the Mets and Blue Jays are “inching toward the finish line” on the deal. Some players’ medicals have been reviewed and OK’d, but there’s still work to be done. R.A. Dickey and Travis d’Arnaud are the centerpieces of the deal, but still no word on the other players involved.

12:55 PM: CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman reports that the Mets rejected a package of Gose and Arencibia. The two sides have since agreed on d’Arnaud as the center piece in a deal for Dickey, but they are currently trying to finalize the last piece. Assuming they can agree on the other players in the deal, it’s now thought that Dickey is willing to talk about an extension.

11:42 AM: Hold the phone. Joel Sherman of the New York Postreports that Anthony Gose is NOT part of the trade talks for R.A. Dickey. However, Travis d’Arnaud is.

11:19 AM: Richard Griffin of the Toronto Starreports that if the Blue Jays are to include d’Arnaud and Gose, they need to have Dickey signed to a two-year extension and receive a top prospect from the Mets.

9:30 AM: Andy Martino of the New York Daily Newsconfirms that the Blue Jays are willing to offer d’Arnaud and Gose in a trade for Dickey. We’re still awaiting word on the other players involved.

8:15 PM: CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman hears that the Mets and Blue Jays have reached agreement on the players involved. No word yet on the full scope of the trade.

Meanwhile, Andy Martino of the New York Daily Newsreports that the Blue Jays have been looking at the medicals on Dickey since at least yesterday afternoon. It’s yet another indication that a deal is close to being finalized.

1:27 AM: Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports is reporting that the Mets and Blue Jays are “on the verge” of a trade that would send Dickey to Toronto and d’Arnaud to New York. The teams are currently looking at medicals, so it sounds pretty close.

As Rosenthal mentioned earlier, Passan hears that more players are involved in the deal.

11:55 PM, Friday: Rosenthal and his colleague, Jon Paul Morosi, are reporting on FOXSports.com that Gose is likely to be included in the deal while the Mets are also expected to receive either d’Arnaud or Arencibia. As Rosenthal noted earlier, if d’Arnaud is included, the deal is likely to be expanded.

11:36 PM: Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com confirms that d’Arnaud is “very much in play” in trade talks for Dickey. However, he notes that the deal would be bigger, with multiple pieces going both ways.

You may recall that the trade talks between the Marlins and Blue Jays began with Josh Johnson and morphed into something much larger. While it’s unlikely 12 players will be involved this time, it probably won’t be a simple swap.

10:30 PM: Andy Martino of the New York Daily Newswas told by “a person with direct knowledge of the discussions” that during the Winter Meetings, d’Arnaud was a “must have” for the Mets to do a trade with the Blue Jays. Toronto resisted at the time, but a person involved in the potential trade has expressed a “gut feeling” that d’Arnaud may be involved. Again, nothing confirmed.

Contrary to earlier reports, Martino hears that Dickey is willing to sign a contract extension if he’s traded to the Blue Jays. This could have a major impact on the return package.

8:00 PM: Jon Heyman of CBS Sports hears that the Mets may be getting prospect catcher Travis d’Arnaud back from the Blue Jays, though he cautions that the information is unconfirmed. However, he was discussed “heavily” in trade talks along with fellow catcher J.P. Arencibia.

6:07 PM: Anthony DiComo of MLB.com was told by “two people involved” to not expect resolution with Dickey tonight. Things could always change, but it appears he’ll remain with the Mets for at least one more day.

5:45 PM: FOX Sports’ Jon Paul Morosi reports that the Mets and Blue Jays have made progress on a possible trade involving Dickey. However, it’s not a done deal yet.

Also, updating a previous story by Joel Sherman, Andy Martino of the New York Daily Newswrites that reports suggesting Dickey wouldn’t sign a contract extension with the Jays are false.

4:29 PM: Jon Heyman is hearing that the players coming back from Toronto — assuming a deal can get done — are J.P. Arencibia and Anthony Gose, though that may just be speculation, as those two have been talked about in trades involving the Blue Jays for some time. And let’s keep in mind that this is all fluid and depend on Dickey being willing to sign an extension. We think. As we learned with the Shin-Soo Choo trade earlier this week, early reports may only be capturing part of the story.

4:05 PM: Joel Sherman reports that the Mets and Blue Jays are far along in trade talks for Dickey — and a deal could be close — but that things are being held up by Dickey’s refusal to agree to sign a contract extension with Toronto. Now, he needn’t sign off on the trade — he has no no-trade protection — but obviously the Jays would be far more willing to give up real value to the Mets if they can lock up Dickey for what will, presumably, be three years instead of just 2013.

Updates, obviously, as warranted.

3:30 PM: In case you didn’t think that the Mets were serious about trading R.A. Dickey:

Not to be conspiratorial, but anyone else smelling a three team trade? AA has long wanted Niese, and with Duda, Davis, Tejada, a bunch of AAA bullpen types, along with a bunch of Blue Jays AAA OF or AA pitcher prospects, stacked catching depth, and a pretty filled out starting five pitching rotation, an expanded-expanded deal could make sense. Even assuming an extended Dickey (tee hee) for d’Arnaud, once you start throwing in Gose etc., you’re really looking at more of an MLB return than just Dickey. And somebody like Buehrle to a team like St. Louis/Milwaukee/Kansas City/Arizona whatever could re-stock you on good prospects pretty quick – and you still have a sparkling starting five + insurance.

The Blue Jay shopping list this off season included starting pitching, second base, and left field. Upgrades at SS, DH and in the pen would be a bonus.

As I do not think that Duda would be an upgrade at DH, I think that second baseman Murphy would be the target in an expanded trade. Murphy has little power, but has a nice BA and has played with Reyes.

If the Jays do get Dickey and Murphy, they could finish off their Christmas shopping with a huge smile.

That is a tough one. Dickey is in line for a raise. Lets say a signing bonus of $10 million this year (before taxes go up in 2013) and extensions in 2014 and 2015. Still, I think that he his better value than Dempster and Sanchez. Fortunately, AA has been stockpiling prospects that can be traded.

churchoftheperpetuallyoutraged - Dec 15, 2012 at 11:18 AM

Assuming the Jays trade of D’arnaud and Gose goes through, definitely the Jays. They are getting the best pitcher* and they are giving up two prospects. Dickey is also cheaper, and while age would be a concern if he were a normal pitcher, we all know knuckleballers age differently.

You have to factor in what was given up in the trade if you’re objectively evaluating this lol.

Old Gator - Dec 15, 2012 at 3:26 PM

I doubt if Scrooge McLoria is on Santa’s list in any capacity – unless Santa in this case is a euphemism for the Macondo County commission. Rather, I think the guy whose list Scrooge is on always concludes his welcome home comments with “Only the soul is immortal, Jeffrey – and yours belongs to me.”

Just got a cheaper contract but paid a price the others didn’t in prospects. Get Sanchez and you pay 10 million to keep D’arnaud and Gose. If those 2 prospects were free agents the Jays would happily pay 10 million to aquire them.

You guys keep saying that – would you prefer breaking camp with Josh Thole and Anthony Recker? At least JP will hit you 20 home runs a year, plus he’s young and controllable. Throwing in Gose, who could project out to be an All-Star if things break right (and whose floor is still a lethal fourth outfielder and runner off the bench), and that is more than a fair return.

Again, let’s put it this way. How many wins do you really think one year of RA Dickey over JA Happ will net you? Now, how many wins do you think three years of Arencibia and six years of Gose gets you?

It’s a straight-up value proposition. And frankly I even think the Mets would wind up ahead on that one, if it weren’t for the fact that the Jays are in win-now mode (and the Mets are, ahem, not).

paperlions - Dec 15, 2012 at 2:07 PM

Yes, JP may hit 20 HRs, he’ll also be among the league leaders in making outs and provide averge-ish defense. The power is nice, but man, he makes a lot of outs, and outs are one of the few things that you have a limited supply of in baseball.

Whew, all this drama. I had to take a little break and participate in the commercial holiday for a bit, but apparently, all was not resolved before I returned. I was introduced to a nice cocktail this week — the Pisco Sour — which I’m sure you’ll appreciate. It goes well with ongoing baseball drama, I do believe. It should be a pleasant little Saturday night.

Old Gator - Dec 15, 2012 at 8:25 PM

Heh – I was introduced to the Pisco Sour in Cuenca, Ecuador (alt. 7000 ft. and change). I dare say I wasn’t cognizant of anything dramatic after the third or fourth gulp. Matter of fack, I don’t even know how I got here.

I like Gose and d’Arnaud. They both have a lot of upside. Mets fans will like the base running ability of Gose and his play in CF. The big question is, can he hit for average? He certainly improved his hitting last September. With d’Arnaud the question is can he stay healthy?

Interestingly, both were originally drafted by Philadelphia. If Gose is traded, it will be the third trade of his young career. For d’Arnaud, it would be his second trade even though he has yet to play in the majors.

Ok, if this has been said/asked, I will get attacked… If RA turned down 20mil, 2 yr ext with mets, but wants 26… I don’t know much about the taxes in NY, but I always hear how nobody wants to play in Canada after the taxes. I wonder what the take home difference is in 2 yr 20 mil in NY versus 2 yr 26 mil, in Canada…

Heh, I keep thinking the same thing. If the deal’s there the deal’s there, but the fact that the Mets seem to be conducting these trade talks with about fifty reporters under the desk has to burn AA’s ass a bit.

Maybe, but that would be an idiotic reason to back out of a deal. Do people really think a GM would think “Gee, I love this deal for our team, but there have just been too many leaks to the press, so I’m pulling the plug.”? That would have to be the all-time dumbest GM in baseball. GMs don’t like leaks because it can clue other teams into what they are working on, not because it affects the deal itself.

cur68 - Dec 15, 2012 at 2:29 PM

I’m sure AA is peeved with all this: he has the trust of his players and has given guys like Arencebia assurances that they aren’t being traded. I’m pretty certain all trades AA goes for will involve him discussing it with the player first. It probably won’t stop him from going ahead and trading someone he’s told he had no plans to trade (notice that bit of weasel wording? “no plans to trade”. AA knows that life is fluid and plans are too), but he’d have a chance to explain at least. All this rumour-milling is vintage Mets FO. Ass-Burgers all the way: screw up their own team’s relationship with players and, what the hell, screw up another team’s, too. The Mets probably assured David Wright that they had every intention of getting RA Dickey back for 2013, hence Wright’s re-signing (that and a truck load of $$$). I’m looking forward to David Wright’s take on the trade of RA Dickey. I sense he will not be happy.

@cur68 Wright is not stupid, he knows that the Mets wont compete until earliest 2014, if the Mets can get one of the top catching prospects to fill a need at a position that has really hurt them ever since they parted ways with Piazza to go along with guys like Ike Davis, Duda, and Wright than it’s a win. The Mets will have a young pitching staff centered around Harvey, Wheeler, and Niese next year. A 38 year old Dickey, albeit a knuckleballer, has no place on this team and they should trade him for max value now. A 23 year old top level catching prospect and extras may be as good as they can get and whatever happens it will be a win for the Mets. And hey, it might even be a win for the Jays as well, I’ll be rooting for them, as a Mets fan I hate the Yankees and as a New Yorker I hate Boston. I have no ill will and wish R.A. Dickey the best but the fact is, is that at this point in time the Mets have a much greater need for near major league ready prospects than a 38 year old Cy Young.

cur68 - Dec 15, 2012 at 4:38 PM

@scheer: you have a listen to this and tell me what all that “We have RA Dickey rah-rah” David Wright is putting out there means….

Furthermore it has been reported on this site that he was going to re-sign with the Mets BECAUSE the Mets were going to hang on the RA. You can google that one if you like. I think I’ve got some pretty compelling evidence to say Wright is not going to be real happy to lose RA as a teammate. That is all I’m saying. He won’t be happy. Whether he’ll bitch about it publicly or not is not my beat. I don’t know the man’s future but I can go by his own words: RA Dickey + David Wright + Closer Fences + Mets = great things in 2013.

@cur David Wright is the consummate professional, when asked about R.A. Dickey’s situation, a current teammate of his, he will of course answer in support of R.A. The thing is that baseball is a business, the Mets have drastically reduced payroll the last two years and are looking to build for a future of constant competitiveness. Signing Dickey, a 38 year old, at the top of his value EVER, is a mistake. David Wright’s baseball IQ is not so low that he doesn’t understand that. What he says in public and what he thinks in private are two totally different matters. There are also a lot of sleezbag journalists, especially in New York, who write articles spinning their own angles just to create artificial drama like the stories you talk about. For example there is this http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/12/15/r-a-dickey-was-appreciated-but-far-from-beloved-by-his-teammates/

cur68 - Dec 15, 2012 at 5:23 PM

Uh huh. He’ll go out and publicly support the guy as his teammate and express his wishes that they remain so and then be just be all stoic about it. Sure. Maybe in public he might. He’s pretty smart. But I’ll wager that we see David Wright’s reaction to all this and I’ll further feel pretty safe in guessing that he will not be expressing stoicism. He’ll say something like “I am unhappy to lost RA as a teammate and I was lead to believe that he WOULD be my teammate”. That’s consistent with everything he’s said so far. Since I have no stake in The Mets and you clearly do, I’m going by human nature as opposed to homerism. I’m not sure why you think Wright is made of alabaster, but I think he’s only human and his rather strongly worded expressions of where he wants RA Dickey playing are indicative of that.

As for RA’s age: he’s gotten better every year for the past 3. He doesn’t throw every pitch in the 80’s and he doesn’t have a UCL to tear. KBall pitchers have a history of longevity, so I’m feeling pretty safe thinking he’s got another 5 years in him easy. Maybe more. I like my chances on both predictions.

I’m not arguing with you about whether or not R.A. has anything left in the tank, he does. In knuckleballer years he might as well be thirty. The problem is, is that he’s a knuckleballer. His last three years have been great and for a losing team no less but history has shown that a knuckleballer can be great one year and mediocre if not terrible the next. Even the great Phil Niekro started to decline steadily after age 40. I’m glad to see this trade done as a Mets fan because they will finally get a positive return on player that they can no longer afford. They made the right move with Beltran for Wheeler and screwed up by letting Reyes walk, I just don’t want to see them make the same mistake with Dickey. But again I have no ill will towards the Blue Jays or RA Dickey.

David Wright and RA Dickey may be friends but this is baseball and players are traded, cut, and not offered new contracts all the time. David Wright is a veteran and has seen this all before. No way this would be a shock to him and for you to believe it would be is just plain dumb.

Sweet Lifting JAYSUS. Noah Syndergaard and Aaron Sanchez, too? RA better sign on for some good years with not a lot of dough involved. I hope my boys are getting Niese in this deal, too. Those’re some blue chip prospect names being bandied about. Good luck Aaron Anthopolous.

The Blue Jays seem to be making some decent moves, but need to because of how tough the AL East is. Mentioned on my blog about the changes the Red Sox and Yankees are making but the Blue Jays certainly seem to filling the the gaps on their roster.

If I were the Jays, I’d walk away from this deal. The Mets are trying to drive the price up by purposely leaking details of their dealings with the Jays. AA is not dealing with a professional organization in the Mets – just a bunch of clowns. Dealing with the New York and Boston clubs is like entering a den of vipers. Walk away AA and tell them to shove their leaks and demands for our blue chip prospects. Then you’ll see how fast the Mets want to get this deal done when they see you’re not going to play their games (they can deal with the Red Sox and get a bag of balls and an autographed picture of Bobby Valentine!)

The Mets need a centre (that’s “center” for you ‘Yanks) fielder and a catcher? You can have John “uncle” Buck and Colby Rasmus. We’ll take Dickey and Thole. That’s the only deal I’d offer….let them leak that!

The Mutts sure have complicated this trade proposal with their selective leaks. It has led to a lot of unwarranted speculation with many names being mentioned even though most of those who are being mentioned will not be in any trade. In the meantime, I am sure that executives with the Mutts have had to spend a lot of time on the phone with reporters who are trying to get the latest scoop.

The whole series of updates is getting rather tiresome. Even Heyman seems to have given up speculating and is resigned to wait for some real news. All in all, it would have been more productive for the Mutts to simply shut up until a trade is consummated.

So where is your evidence that the Mets are actually “leaking” these statements and the media isn’t just pulling stuff out of thin air? Even Old Alzheimer’s Gator once in awhile comes up with a fact. The Dirty Birds are just expecting for Alderson to lay down for them which isn’t going to happen.

My! My! The Toronto press has been quiet. As usual, the Jays are saying nothing and are not responding to enquiries. Who has been feeding stories to the NY media? All the stories are coming from NY. Either the NY media is making stuff up and/or the Mutts are feeding them info.